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Shotgun Ammo: Do You Have to Relearn to Shoot After Switching to High-Velocity Loads?

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Deadeye Dick asked an excellent question in a comment on the high velocity ping pong ball post: Do you have to relearn how to shoot when you switch to very high velocity loads?

Others will disagree but I will say no, you don’t have to learn to shoot all over again. I haven’t recalibrated my leads consciously or (as far as I know) unconsciously when I shoot high velocity ammo. Remington’s website says the difference in lead between their 1,675 fps Hypersonic and other steel is 11 percent — about eight inches at 40 yards. That would be on a true 90-degree crosser at 40 yards, and most makeable shots in the field occur at shorter distances and shallower angles. On, say, a 20-yard quartering target, the difference in lead between a super-fast shell and a normal velocity shell is negligible.

Remember that your pattern is 30 inches wide and has a dense core part covering 20 inches, you have some margin for error when you lead a target.

Also, in my field observation of average hunters, most of them can’t hit 40 yard crossers anyway, so eight inches less lead isn’t going to make a bit of difference.

That said, confidence is an important ingredient in good shotgun shooting. If you are wondering about how much to lead a bird, you may as well take the shells out of the gun and throw them at it. If you need to practice with steel to develop confidence in it, then by all means go vaporize some clay targets with your super-fast duck loads until you believe in them.

The extra velocity will hit birds harder. It will put a few more pellets in the front end of the target, but only if you forget how fast your pellets are going and focus on the target.